Welcome, and thanks for visiting! I’m Joni, a.k.a. JoJo. It’s a pleasure to meet you virtually

This is my first try at blogging. Please excuse the simplicity of the site and any mistakes I might make.

I’m recently self-employed, which is a fancy way of saying unemployed, but working on short-term contracts rather than as a company employee. You see, my husband and I recently decided to move “home” to Ohio after nine years in Nashville, Tennessee. Unfortunately, my company doesn’t do business in Ohio, so I couldn’t remain an employee. So now I set my own schedule and get paid hourly. It’s an adjustment, for sure, but I’m starting to get used to it.

We moved almost four months ago and are still unpacking and organizing, as well as working through some home improvement projects. The first was to put in a fence for our two spoiled four-year old furbabies. Tipsy is a whoodle (wheaten terrier and poodle mix), and ZuZu is a rescued mixed breed. Since we didn’t have enough going on with packing, moving, unpacking, work, acclimating to the neighborhood and reestablishing relationships with old friends, we decided to rescue another puppy. He’s a 4-month old mixed breed that is in what I call the velociraptor phase.

So….why not throw a blog into the mix too?

When I was young, I wrote fictional short stories. I’m not sure when or why I stopped. As I got older, cooking became my creative outlet. I enjoy planning menus, finding base recipes, and making them my own. I love to see people enjoying my food.

I grew up in a small town in southeast Ohio, surrounded by my parents’ friends and my dad’s family. My Italian grandfather was the first of the family born in the United States. He had a knack for storytelling, as does my dad. He also had a penchant for being the story. He did some of the craziest things, and some of the funniest things happened to him.

That’s why I’m blogging. I want to share both our family stories and good food. Ergo, nourishing stories and flavorful memories.

I hope you enjoy.